But...
"Luffy said that without me, he can't become the Pirate King!"
Sanji suddenly opened his eyes, pulled out a black canister marked with a '3' from his pocket, stared at it for a moment, then let go, allowing it to fall to the ground, and stomped it out with his foot.
Bam!
As the sound echoed, his eyebrow that was originally curled toward his forehead suddenly uncurled, turning into a spiral heading toward the edge of his brow.
"Gin! The 'science' inside me has awakened! Since it has awakened, there's no choice... Robin! Brook!"
Next to him, Robin and Brook, who were lying down, stood up one by one.
Sanji said, "If after the battle, I become different, please be sure to stop me!"
He would never become like his siblings, an emotionless monster!
"Let's go!"
Sanji stomped his foot, igniting flames on his legs and feet once again, and rushed towards Gin at a speed even faster than before, moving so fast that only a trail of flowing fire could be seen in the air.
"So fast!"
Gin's pupils shrank as he saw Sanji's kick coming, instinctively wanting to block it, but in a split second, he gritted his teeth, and his arms, which were about to block crosswise, lashed out like whips.
He's not someone who's only defensively inclined!
"Mr. Sanji!"
"Gin!"
Sanji's eyes nearly spewed fire, his entire body engulfed in flames at that moment, with a straight kick hitting Gin's incoming arms, bouncing them away with just one strike, then rapidly retracting his leg in midair, while his other leg fiercely side-kicked Gin's left chest.
"Rotisserie Strike!!"
Bam!!
Gin was kicked like a whirlwind spiraling away, crashing into the wall behind, creating a hole, and the ground also had a large crater from which smoke emerged.
Gin's body had disappeared within the crater.
"Done!"
Sanji landed on the ground, clenched his fist.
"As expected, you are the one suitable to be Luffy's right-hand man." Robin smiled and said, "I've always believed that!"
Sanji lifted his finger back to rub his nose, showing a smile, "Alright, let's keep going, we still have other battles to join! Once we win this..."
He looked up, revealing a look of expectation, "We'll see Luffy's future as the Pirate King!"
After the three left, the room, which was in shambles, only had the blacked-out Black Maria lying on the ground, and the still-smoking crater.
Crack!
Suddenly, a hand reached out from the edge of the crater, clawing onto the edge, slowly rising, revealing Gin's body, half-covered in blood and gasping for breath.
He took several deep breaths, staggered to the floor, and after shaking for a moment, finally stabilized.
"Not lightly injured..."
Gin held his left arm, shook his head, and chuckled, "Mr. Sanji really has become much stronger, that's good..."
Before the battle, he still had quite complicated feelings, afraid of accidentally killing him, but also afraid of holding back.
After all, gratitude is something one can remember for a lifetime.
He gave it his all, only to be beaten by sheer strength, losing consciousness the instant it happened.
But still...
"Right-hand man?"
Gin looked up, sighed, as images of many people flashed in his mind.
"If it's only at this level, it's hard to win. If he doesn't retreat, he might really die, Mr. Sanji..."
...
In the hallway of the Tenshōkaku.
"Why are you chasing me?!"
Nami and Usopp ran for their lives, with a Dragon Man with half a head of wavy purple hair quickly chasing after them, shouting, "Don't run!"
"Hey, Usopp, stop running! Aren't you a man? Show some manliness!" Nami yelled at the long-nosed guy running slightly faster beside her.
"Who cares about gender right now, I can't beat him, it's too scary!" Usopp shouted, "Running away is victory!"
"Cowardly rats!"
Pursuing them, Page roared, "Stop right there! Are you really Pirates? With crew like you, how can the Captain become the Pirate King? If the crew runs away, the Captain will too!"
"What did you say?!"
The two dashed to a halt, like hitting the brakes, kicking up a cloud of dust underfoot, and immediately turned around.
Usopp pulled out his slingshot 'Black Kabuto', stretched it to the extreme, and in an instant, fired it off.
"Midori Boshi: Explosive Skeleton Plant!"
Boom!
The seed hit the ground at Page's feet, rapidly erupting into a cloud of pink skull-shaped smoke. The intense explosion forced this Thorny-Backed Dragon Zoan-type to stagger backward, unable to maintain his form.
"Tch, what is this?!"
Page stepped back, covering his nose with one hand and waving away the smoke with the other.
Just as he finished speaking, he suddenly noticed something off. Above the pink skull smoke, a cloud had mysteriously appeared, flickering with lightning.
"Ninja Technique: Thunderbolt!"
Nami, in a breezy kimono, shouted as she forcefully swung her Magic Weather Rod. Simultaneously, a thunderbolt struck down from the black cloud, hitting Page.
Crash!
With just one strike, Page was charred black all over, black smoke escaping from his mouth as he collapsed to the ground.
"Yes!"
The two high-fived and cheered, then turned in unison, shouting toward Page:
"Luffy will definitely become the Pirate King!!"
One served as a diversion, obscuring vision amidst the blast impact, while the other seized the opportunity to awaken the Thundercloud Zeus within the Magic Weather Rod, bringing down the lightning at just the right moment.
As for that thundercloud, it mutated a few days ago. Originally lured away from Big Mom, it had been hidden within the Weather Staff, but for some reason, Zeus suddenly changed, and the thundercloud disappeared. Instead, it merged with the Weather Staff.
Now it's not just a thundercloud Homiez, but it has become a Homiez of the Weather Staff, capable of not only releasing thunderclouds but also freely altering the shape of the Weather Staff, consciously changing the weather generated within it, no longer needing Nami's preparation.
This enhancement is massive.
It's as if Nami has gained control over all the powers of the weather, whether it's wind, rain, or thunder, all can be used through the Weather Staff.
"Damn it! I'm going to kill you!"
Laying on the ground, Page suddenly trembled, then half-knelt up. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and being a thorny-backed Dragon Man in human-beast form looked quite sinister. With a sullen face now, he appeared even more terrifying.
"Struck by lightning and still fine?!" Usopp yelled, drawing his slingshot toward Page, "Hey, Nami, hit him again!"
"OK!"
Nami gripped her Weather Staff tightly, ready to wield Zeus again, but suddenly, a figure carrying a golden shadow slammed in, hitting the Weather Staff away with a bang.
It was a golden round hammer, almost entirely long-handled with only the front featuring a spike-covered round head, wielded by a slender-bodied woman wearing a mask.
"How dare you hurt Page!"
The woman glared, shouting, "You all have to die!"
The younger two of the Flying Six, siblings, twenty-two-year-old Ulti and twenty-year-old Page One!
"We're doomed!"
Nami and Usopp covered their cheeks with their hands, mouths agape, bodies twisted like straw, full of terror.
One was already troublesome enough; two would be impossible.
"Oh? There's a fight, huh? Beauty vs. Beauty, pretty nice, though why the mask..."
Just then, from a side corridor of theirs, a lighthearted voice emerged.
The group turned to see two figures in the side corridor, the muscular red-haired man holding a curved sword, kicking aside a fallen, bloody pirate from the Beast Pirates.
Beside him was a beautiful woman with brunette hair whiter than three days in formaldehyde, carrying a bow on her back and two quivers of arrows at her waist.
"Who are you?"
Ulti narrowed her eyes, speaking in a deep voice, "Why are you here?"
Unlike these seemingly timid guys, these two posed a serious threat!
"Us? Of course, we're here to fight, with anyone really, as long as we win. That's Lily's Prime Minister's order."
The red-haired man whistled and laughed, "Of course, you can do too, since you seem pretty strong!"
With that, he crouched low, like a leopard about to hunt, drawing another curved sword from his waist with his other hand.
"Seven Stars, Sipher."
The brunette woman picked up the bow from her back, drawing an arrow aimed at the front, "Seven Stars, Misty."
Whoosh!
The bowstring snapped like thunder, and an arrow threaded with spiraling air currents shot out like lightning as she released the string.
And beneath the arrow, Sipher darted in with his usual cavalier demeanor.
If it's a collision, then let's fight!